Between Black and White
by Neyvahn
Summary: What happens when you are a disgrace to your family? What happens when you are disowned and left to fend for yourself? Mason Callaghan sure as hell knows. At the age of thirteen, he was kicked out and disowned by his parents because he refused to become a Pokemon trainer. What happens? Let's just say that after three years on his own, things start to make up for it...
1. One Meeting

**Hey guys. It's been ages since I updated either of my stories, so I'll try to get back to that. For now, I'll have to manage with editing chapters I already have. However, I will be working on new chapters and working on those. Now that I've got a laptop I can call my own, I'll be poppin' out chapters as fast as I can. For those of you who have stayed with me since I started in March 2015, thanks for your support and your motivation!**

**P.S. I changed the POV change smack in the middle of the chapter, so enjoy!**

* * *

This is the story of a boy named Mason Callaghan, and the companions that surround him. Mason himself was a normal, thirteen year old boy. He may be a little dark and secluded, but he never liked interacting with people very much. He was quite the socially volatile teenager, but he was for a good reason. His family line, the Callaghan family, was very well known for their distinguished and talented pokemon trainers. Those with the Callaghan name were trained and raised to become exceptional trainers in the pokemon championships. Mason however, was far below par as a trainer, even after more than ten years of training.

His parents shunned him over and over, ever since his first battle. He'd train with the Riolu he received as a birthday gift when he was six, but no matter what, he couldn't win a match against any trainers. After a while, he gave up at being a trainer and began studying medical care and career choices. Even then, his parents still tried to train him and made an appointment with Professor Oak for his thirteenth birthday.

He refused to go to the appointment, ultimately giving up on becoming a trainer. His parents did not take this well. They yelled at him that day and disowned him, calling him a failure of a son. They completely broke him that day, and drove him over the edge. He packed his things and left the house, off to live on his own. As he left, the Riolu he trained with ran after him, but Mason's parents didn't allow it to go. It was forced to stay at the home, simply hoping for Mason to come back for the little Riolu. The little pokemon waited for him everyday, hoping that he would come home, but he never did.

**_oIo_**

**Three Years Later**

**Somewhere in the Forest**

The sun shone through the trees of the forest ten miles away from a nearby town. It was spring and the leaves on the trees of the forest resonated a bright green, bringing a very saturated hue to the area. In a specific area of this forest, a wild Gardevoir walked around, searching for berries to eat. She came across a berry bush and searched for large and juicy berries, then held them in her hands. Once she got a good amount, she started walking back to a lake in the forest.

She had walked for a few minutes when she heard rustling from nearby bushes. She froze in place, and held her breath. Slowly, and very carefully, she turned her head and looked in the direction of the noise. She looked at a row of bushes, but there was nothing else she could see. Then she saw it: a pair of yellow and red eyes, staring directly at her. Gardevoir dropped the berries and ran the other way as fast as she could.

Behind her, Gardevoir could hear the howl of a Mightyena followed by other similar howls. She picked up her pace and swerved in and out of trees as to lose the following predators. She looked back behind her as she ran, and saw several grey and black blurs swerving through the trees. She counted up to eight- no… nine Mightyenas chasing her. Gardevoir began to panic and leaped over another bush.

The first thing that came to her mind, was her chances of surviving, which were very slim. Mightyenas were strong pokemon alone, but in a pack, they were something close to deadly. Gardevoir continued to run and came across a narrow ravine about 12 feet wide. Far below, a rushing river with jagged rocks flowed in between the gap. Gardevoir pushed her legs harder and ran full speed towards the gap. At the very edge, she leaped forward over the ravine with outstretched arms. She looked down as she jumped over, and felt her stomach turn. Gardevoir looked back up just too late and landed on the other side, twisting her ankle. Her legs buckled underneath her and sent her tumbling across the jagged rocks on the other side.

Gardevoir yelped in pain, struggling to get back on their feet. When she did, she looked back at the ravine to see four of the Mightyenas stop dead in their tracks. The other five leaped over effortlessly and closed in on her. The Mightyena closest to her leaped and tackled her to the ground. Gardevoir fell and rolled to a stop at the foot of a large oak tree, breathing raggedly. The pack crawled and crept towards her, teeth barred. They poised themselves for the kill, but stopped when an authoritative growl came from the Mightyena in the middle. The rest of the pack stepped back as a large, scarred beast walked towards Gardevoir, eyeing his prize.

The Mightyena grinned sinisterly, striking fear in Gardevoir. She crawled away and was able to stand up, but the Mightyena leaped at her and clamped his sharp teeth down on the side of her neck. Gardevoir cried out in pain, and threw the Mightyena off of her neck. Gardevoir tried to use magical leaf to attack the Mightyena, but immediately collapsed to the ground.

She had been bitten with a dose of poison, and a purple bubbly substance covered her gushing wound. Her death was now decided, unable to be avoided. In a matter of minutes, she'd die of poisoning, if she didn't get ripped apart first. Her eyelids became heavy, and her limbs felt like lead. She knew she wasn't getting out of this alive. Gardevoir closed her eyes in defeat, as the alpha Mightyena advanced on her. She relaxed her body, and waited for the inevitable embrace of death.

Gardevoir made one last effort to open her eyes. She lifted her heavy eyelids just in time to see the large beast leap at her with his jaws open. Out of nowhere, a dark shadow leaped from the trees at the Mightyena, smooth and graceful, but powerful. The shadow rammed into the Mightyena and tackled it to the ground with a loud _thud_. A sickening _crack _echoed throughout the clearing. A large pool of blood collected under the shadow. The rest of the pack went silent as the shadow rose above the still body of the alpha, a large hunting knife protruding out of the Mightyena's head, right through its brain.

Time seemed to stop, and everything froze around them. One of the Mightyenas came back to its senses and pounced at the figure's neck, but the figure ducked under and struck the Mightyena in the gut. The shadow pulled the hunting knife out of the alpha's head as the other three leapt at it. The figure rolled under one of the Mightyenas and landed on its back. The pack landed and ran towards it, but the figure kicked out with its feet, smashing in one of the Mightyena's heads and knocking it dead. The other landed on the figure and went for the throat, but the shadow put up its arm. The Mightyena bit into the figure's forearm, causing the figure to growl in anger.

The figure grabbed the Mightyena's head with its other hand, then twisted the arm that was in the Mightyena's mouth. The Mightyena's head turned a full 180 degrees with _snap, _then fell off of the figure. The shadow stood up, then looked at the two Mightyenas that remained. The figure picked up its knife and took a low stance. Both of the Mightyena's leaped at the shadow, and the shadow retaliated by spinning around and landing two solid spinning kicks on both of them. One of them fell down, unconscious, while the other got back up with weak knees.

The last Mightyena looked over at Gardevoir, then back at the figure. Its eyes kept moving between the two, then Gardevoir realized what it was going to do. The mightyena turned away from the figure and ran with bared teeth at her. In response, the figure threw the knife and dove at the mightyena. The knife dug into the area between the mightyena's shoulder blades, causing the Mightyena to howl in pain. The shadow tackled the Mightyena to the side, barely missing Gardevoir and grinding the Mightyena into the ground. The shadow grabbed the hilt of the knife and thrusted it upwards, splitting the Mightyena's head in two.

The forest went silent after that, and the rustling of the grass could easily be heard. Gardevoir looked over to the shadow as it wiped the blood off of the blade of the knife with it's long leather sleeve. At that moment, the poison's effect fully kicked in and caused Gardevoir to pass out. Right before she closed her eyes, she saw the figure notice and run over to her. She closed her eyes and allowed her heart to stop beating.

**_oIo_**

**One Week Later**

**Somewhere in the Forest**

Mason sat against the wall of the cabin, stitching his bite wound from a week ago. Before then, he didn't have access to any stitching supplies, so he had to deal with simple dressings and bandages. Mason finished the last stitch, tied it up so it wouldn't come loose, then cut the excess with his hunting knife. Prior to the fiasco with his parents, he had studied emergency medical care and had become certified up to an Advanced Emergency Medical Technician level. It definitely helped when it came to injuries like his. Mason was covering up his wound when he heard rustling from the couch.

He looked over to the couch where a white and blue figure was covered with a blanket, rustling and awakening. He put the supplies away and started making a cup of warm chocolate.

He was stirring the chocolate mix in with the warm water when he heard more rustling. Mason looked over to see a full head of bright blue hair rising above the back of the couch. He hadn't really looked at her in detail for the last week. Just busy. Mason pulled a coaster out of one of the drawers, picked up the mug full of warm chocolate and walked back over to the couch. Setting the mug down on a coaster, Mason blew the hot drink and placed it on the coffee table in front of the couch. Mason glanced at the figure, thinking. Her dress was simple, but it was extremely nice. It was made out of some kind of fabric that was unlike any other. Smooth and light, but durable and thick like it was made out of the finest tailor's material.

The girl sat up with closed eyes and yawned cutely. She mewled out and opened her eyes, slowly looking around the room. Then her eyes fell on Mason and froze. She just sat there staring, never moving. Confused, Mason looked down at his attire, wondering why she was staring. He wasn't weird looking, was he? Mason disregarded it and held the warm chocolate out to her.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly. She looked at Mason with curious... gold... eyes? She slowly cupped her hands in front of the cup and waited, like it was foreign for her to drink from the cup. This was surprising, because she appeared to be around sixteen, but she acted like a curious little girl. Mason chuckled.

"No, you drink _from _the cup," Mason said as he held the mug closer to her mouth, but she backed away from it. Mason sighed.

"Do you want me to show you?" he asked. She tilted her head at Mason, almost like she didn't understand him, but then she nodded her head. She understood. Mason held the mug firmly and drank from the cup to show her how to use it. It felt completely off to him, considering he was teaching someone around his age how to drink from a cup. Mason barely took a sip just to make sure it wasn't too hot or cold. Fortunately, it was perfectly fine. He held out the cup to the girl, making sure to move slowly and steadily. The girl looked at the cup for a few seconds, then hesitantly went to hold it.

Mason's fingers brushed lightly against hers, almost making him drop the cup. She almost felt electric or magnetic, it was something he couldn't describe. It was like the feeling someone gets when they touch their tongue to the end of a charged battery, except Mason was feeling that in his fingertips. The girl held the cup firmly. She had the cup in her hands, so Mason let go. She looked at the cup, then at him, and slowly took a sip. The sip lasted a few seconds, then she separated her lips from the cup.

Mason made eye contact again, then realized something that was so obvious that it hurt. This girl, she wasn't even human. Her proportions were much like a human's, but slimmer and more elegant. As well as that, she has something like an orange protrusion in place of her sternum. She almost looked like something you'd see out of a romance shoujo anime. She was something way too cute to be human. The only question was this: What pokemon was she?

The pokemon went for another sip, but winced and dropped the cup. Mason saw this and moved his hand to catch the mug. Unfortunately, he was too slow and the mug fell onto the ground, spilling warm chocolate everywhere. Mason cursed under his breath and grabbed a towel from under the kitchen sink. He came back over to the couch and dabbed what he could off of the hardwood ground. After Mason scrubbed what he could, he turned his attention back to the girl. She was holding the bandage on her shoulder, where she was bit. Mason knelt next to the couch and moved his hand towards her injury. She quickly pulled back and looked at him worriedly. Mason slowly moved back and sat on his heels.

"It's okay," he said softly. "I'm just checking to see how it's healing." Mason stayed there for a full thirty seconds before she submitted. She relaxed a little, still stiff, and allowed him to gently pull the bandage back.

The scar still looked pretty nasty, but it was healing nicely. The skin had healed so that there were no more holes, and the skin's pigment was returning to normal. All in all, her recovery was going smoothly. When Mason first saw what happened, he extracted the poison and used berries to cancel out the effects of what poison was left. She wasn't breathing, so Mason had to perform CPR whilst finding a defibrillator. It was difficult, but he somehow pulled it off. She went into a week-long coma, leaving Mason to carry her back to his cabin. She was stable during the week though, which made things much easier for him.

Mason examined the wound closer and determined that some ibuprofen would help settle the pain for now. He went back into the kitchen and grabbed a glass, then filled it with cold milk. The entire time, the pokemon was watching him. He opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out a pill bottle with the word "ibuprofen" on it. After unscrewing the lid, he popped a small pill out into his palm, then sealed the bottle with the lid and placed the bottle back into the cabinet.

With the glass of milk and the pill, Mason walked back to the couch and handed the pokemon both of them. She held them in her hands and looked at them confusedly. Mason was afraid that she wouldn't get it, but eventually she swallowed the pill and finished the glass of milk. She handed Mason the glass, who seated it back on the table.

"Okay," Mason said, putting his hands together. "Your shoulder is still healing, so you should rest. Using it will only reopen the wound. Do you understand?" he asked politely. The pokemon nodded. Suddenly, Mason felt a presence in his head.

_'Thank you, I appreciate your help,' _a voice said. The voice mused like a flowing river, pleasing to the ear; elegant and attractive. Mason began looking around the room, trying to find the voice. The pokemon just giggled cutely. Confused, Mason looked around until he realized that it was the pokemon. He knew there were psychic pokemon out there, but very few could directly communicate with people.

_'Tell me, what is your name?' _she asked him through telepathy. Mason shook his head a little. It was going to take a little getting used to hearing voices in his head.

"I-It's Mason," he managed to stutter out. "Mason Callaghan." The pokemon smiled and leaned forward.

_'Thank you Mason. What you did was beyond anything I could ever ask for.' _she whispered. Mason looked down at the floor, unsure how to handle the situation. Dealing with girls was hard enough, now he had to deal with a POKEMON girl like this? To say the least, he was never prepared for a situation like this.

"I-I just did what any other person would do," he reasoned. The pokemon just shook her head.

_'No. Others would run away, they wouldn't get involved at all. But you risked your life for someone that you didn't know. I've never met anyone, pokemon or human, who would do that so selflessly, Mason,' _she praised with her silky voice. Mason looked back down to the floor, a little flustered.

"Anyways," he changed the subject. "You should get some rest and let that shoulder heal. Once it's done, you can leave, okay?" In response, the pokemon puffed out her cheeks in a cute little way and made a pouty face.

_'What if I don't want to leave? Do you know how hard it is to survive out there alone?' _she replied. Mason sighed deeply, contemplating on the cons and pros of letting this pokemon stay in his house. '_We'll, if she were to stay here, then my food supply would run out quicker. However, if she were to stay, then-'_

_'You'd have another helping hand,' _the pokemon finished. Mason's eyes widened.

"Wait… you can read my thoughts?"

_'Yes, I can and I have been,' _she telepathically said to Mason. He blushed heavily, embarrassed. The pokemon giggled again, obviously amused. Mason grumbled.

"I'll have to think about it" he said. "But as long as you're here, we're going to have to address each other by name." In response, the pokemon smiled at Mason and leaned forward.

_'My name is Nida,' _she whispered. _'From now on, I will be in your care, Mason.'_


	2. New Discovery

**Hey guys. It's been ages since I updated either of my stories, so I'll try to get back to that. For now, I'll have to manage with editing chapters I already have. However, I will be working on new chapters and working on those. Now that I've got a laptop I can call my own, I'll be poppin' out chapters as fast as I can. For those of you who have stayed with me since I started in March 2015, thanks for your support and your motivation!**

* * *

**_oOo_**

**Mason's POV**

After I learned who this girl was, I went back outside to think. For three years I got by perfectly fine by myself, then out of nowhere this pokemon is asking if she could live in my house. What do I say? Do I let her stay, or do I tell her to leave? I don't want to be a douchebag, but it'd be hard to support another person, or in this situation, pokemon.

I walked past a few trees until the trees stopped. Right in front of me was a large, clear lake about the size of three football stadiums. It really was a beautiful lake, the way the sunlight bounced off the surface of the water made it seem so magnificent and serene. At the section of the lake that I was at, the ground drops off at about 30 feet into the water. The lake was deep enough that even though the water was crystal clear, you still couldn't see the bottom.

I walked to the edge and sat down, looking into the water to see a few magikarp swimming around.

I began thinking about my life in the last few years, looking back at what happened a week ago, grimacing on what I did to save a random Gardevoir. I looked down at my hands, still faintly stained with blood and bruised from the brutal brawl. Slightly depressed, I dropped my hands back down and closed my eyes, imagining what my life would have been if I hadn't walked out that door three years ago. What if I didn't pack my bags and leave? What if I didn't leave that house? What if… oh my god… Riolu… Is Riolu still waiting?

When I left the house, I didn't turn back. What I didn't realize was that Riolu was _my _pokemon, not my parents. She saw me as her trainer, not my parents. I held my head in my hands, my realization sinking in. I left Riolu without a single word, no goodbye, no nothing. I felt a tug at my gut, the thought of what they'll do with her. Will they keep her? Sell her? Kill her?

I slapped myself,, trying to shake the thought away. I know that I had to leave my parents, but did I have to leave Riolu? I was so angry that I forgot about her. Why'd I have to forget her? Maybe she didn't want to go with me?.. I hope so... I'd rather have Riolu stay and not miss me than have her miss me. I sure as hell hope so.

I was kicked out of my thoughts as I heard rustling bushes behind me. I rolled to my feet and turned towards the noise, poised and prepared for an attack. A figure stepped out into the clearing on two feet. The figure stopped fifteen feet in front of me, then stood with its feet together, looking at me.

To my surprise, it wasn't Gardevoir, or a Mightyena. At first, I thought that it was a pokemon that I didn't know about, but upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a Zoroark, the dark-type illusion fox. It wasn't the normal color of one though. Instead of the normal red and grey scheme, the red was replaced with a vibrant purple.

I inconspicuously moved my hand to the small of my back and grasped the handle of a hunting knife. I wanted to pull it out or run away, but the Zoroark just stood there looking at me curiously. I had no logical reason to act violently or rashly, I might even provoke this fox in doing so. So I just stood there and waited for any sudden movements. I stood there, silently, waiting to see what the Zoroark would do, but it simply stood there. Peculiar enough, it didn't seem provoked or in danger, it just seemed to be studying me. Nothing else.

I still held the handle of the hunting knife, unsure of what to do. Slowly and gradually, I lifted my hand off of the leather handle and took a sluggish step forward. I gently set my foot on the ground and looked at the Zoroark in more detail. Upon closer inspection, the Zoroark was much more feline and feminine than any other Zoroark specimen I had ever seen, and I had seen a wide variety of Zoroark in my lifetime…

What? Working as an AEMT provides you with a lot of samples, okay? Okay.

The Zoroark cocked her head to the side, still observing me. It was obvious that this Zoroark was female. An interesting thing with the Zoroark pokemon is that you can tell the gender of the specimen using the shape of the jawline. Male Zoroark have longer, boxy jaws, while female Zoroark's jaws are slightly shorter and pointed. The random little things you learn as you go along in life…

I stood there as the Zoroark continued to look at me, perplexed and bemused. She almost seemed confused, but why? I decided to test her reaction and moved my hand to my back once again and grasped the handle. This time, however, I slid the knife out of the sheath and held it in front of me. I turned the blade flat side towards the Zoroark and held it firmly in my hand. I switched the handle around in my hand so that the blade was pointing towards the ground, and thrusted downwards.

The six inch blade stuck into the ground with a loud _thud_, piercing the grass and leaving only the handle above the ground. The entire time, I never took my eyes off of the fox. The entire time, she simply watched, interested and inquisited. For a full thirty seconds, I stared the Zoroark right in the eyes, never breaking eye contact. She didn't move, didn't flinch, she only looked at me like she was studying me.

Suddenly, something tugged at my ankles and pulled them out from under me. I fell on my face and cursed harshly to nobody in particular. Whatever was pulling on my ankles lifted them up over my head and held me upside down. I tried to kick out, but the grip on my ankles was unnaturally strong. While still upside down, I pulled the hunting knife out from the ground and held it out to strike the enemy behind me.

I turned my upper body around and prepared to slash at the thing's knees but when I turned around, it grabbed my wrist. I held the knife firmly and tried to thrust out, but I couldn't. I looked up at my ankles, and it was the Zoroark. I stared at my ankles, confused and unsure. Was there two shiny Zoroarks here? Was there something in the water I drank?

I turned my upper body around to the first Zoroark, very confused. She walked forward towards me, then vanished out of thin air… okay… I'm even more confused now. The Zoroark holding me in the air turned me around to face her and looked down at my face. At this point, the blood rushing to my head was very noticeable to me. The Zoroark leaned in on my face and looked at it with a questioning expression. Suddenly, something probed my mind and I could feel something present in there.

'_Are you Mason Callaghan?' _I heard a voice say in my head… Ohhh… I forgot that Zoroarks can communicate telepathically. The Zoroark looked at me, expecting an answer.

"It's just Mason. I'm not a Callaghan anymore," I retorted. The Zoroark didn't question me, just cocked her head and blinked. She didn't really do anything but sit there, inspecting me. I hung there, waiting for anything, but she just continued to look at me. I growled in frustration and stabbed my knife back into the ground.

"First off, how do you know my name?" I held up one finger. "Second off," I held up a second finger. "Will you stop staring at me!?"

The Zoroark jumped back in surprise and lost her grip on my ankles. I felt myself drop like a rock, landing on my head. Sharp pain resonated through my neck and the top of my skull.

"Ow!" I exclaimed. I rolled onto my back, writhing in pain. The Zoroark slowly leaned over me with an apologetic look.

'_Sorry,'_ she apologized. I sighed and reached out to my knife and pulled it out of the ground.

"You shouldn't have pulled me up in the first place. What was the point of that?" I asked frustratingly. I picked the hunting knife up, wiped the dirt off with my sleeve, then put it back in its sheath on the small of my back. I looked at the Zoroark, agitated.

"Anyways, you make it sound like you know me. Answer me: How do you know my name?" I asked her. The Zoroark looked down at her feet, hesitantly. I heard a few stuttered syllables, scattered, unable to form a sentence. Then the Zoroark stopped talking, and composed herself.

'_Are you aware that you're not normal?' _she asked. I looked at her addled and unsure how this is connected to my question.

"Yes, I am aware. Not every kid gets disowned by his parents at the age of thirteen," I replied. Unsatisfied with my answer, the Zoroark shook her head.

'_No, I don't mean it in that way,' _she responded. The Zoroark looked at me straight in the eyes with a dead serious look on her face. '_Are you aware that you aren't... uhh...' _the Zoroark hesitated and broke eye contact. I looked at her confused.

"That I'm not what?" I asked. The Zoroark regained her composure and looked back up at me.

'_That you aren't fully human?'_


	3. Sibling?

"... What?" I questioned. The Zoroark groaned in disappointment and repeated herself.

'_Are you aware that you aren't fully human?' _

For a full minute, neither of us talked, neither of us moved, hell, we didn't even blink. Suddenly, I broke into an insane fit of laughter.

"You're kidding, right? That's preposterous! Nobody's ever heard of a human-pokemon hybrid!" I said as I continued to laugh hysterically. The Zoroark growled in annoyance and slapped me. Hard. I stumbled back a little bit, holding my stinging cheek.

'_Mason, this isn't a joke! I'm telling you truthfully, you aren't fully human!' _she growled. I grimaced a little bit at the pain, and looked at Zoroark with confusion evident on my face.

"That… that can't be true, both my parents are human," I said. Zoroark simply stood next to me patiently while I denied what she said. "I _am_ human. I was the son of Delilah Callaghan and… uh…and..." I paused, unable to think of my father's name. I started pacing and put my hand on my chin, thinking. '_uh… James? No… Jake? No, not that either...' _I tried to remember his name, but no matter what, I couldn't. "Oh my god… I forgot his name," I murmured, wide eyed. The Zoroark looked up at me, unsurprised.

'_That's because he isn't your father,' _she told me. I stopped and whipped my head in her direction, looking at her in disbelief. For a second, I pondered on the thought, then quickly rejected it.

"No, I just forgot, that's all," I replied, shaking my head. "I refused to think about it for three years, so it's not crazy for me to forget his name." The Zoroark took a step towards me and looked with a quizzical look in in her eye.

'_Then how do you remember you mother's name? How come you can remember Delilah, but not Jackson?' _she asked me. I tried to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. My mind was stuck on something else. Jackson… yeah, I remember now. Jackson _is_ the name of my father… but… Zoroark… how? How did she know it when I didn't. She couldn't have gotten it from my memories if I couldn't find it, so... how?

"How… how do you know my father's name?.. How do you know me?" I asked as I walked up to the Zoroark. The Zoroark looked up at me, directly in my eyes, and said nothing. I looked at her, expecting an answer, but she kept silent. Not a word. I looked at her confusedly, expecting an answer, then out of nowhere, an involuntary, forced image came to mind. It was a shadow Gallade in battle, tall and strong, with eyes focused and determined. He stood in a fighting stance with a strong balance and balled fists, poised and coiled like a snake ready to attack. He seemed to emit a dangerous, powerful aura, even if what I was seeing was just an image. After a few seconds, another image appeared next to it. I paused, confused and unsure.

It was me… when I was fighting the pack of Mightyenas a week ago. I was diving at the leader of the pack, knife in hand and harm intent. Just as I remembered it to be. I looked at me and the Gallade for what felt like fifteen minutes straight, unable to find the relevance, then I saw it.

The Gallade's eyes… exactly the same as mine. Bright green with small slivers of yellow running in the irises, shining a poisonous color. Where green would have been on a regular Gallade, there was black, including his head. I reached up and grabbed a loose bang in my hair and pulled it down in front of my eyes. It was the same color as the Gallade, even if my mother's hair was light brown.

The way the Gallade coiled himself up resembled a cobra, ready to bite. In the moment I leaped at the Mightyena, it resembled to same cobra leaping out towards its prey with bared fangs. The similarities were just subtle enough to hide themselves, but forthright enough to show the unimaginable truth.

If Jackson wasn't my father, then this Gallade was. The images faded, and I was left looking at the Zoroark, at a loss for words. I backed away and placed my hand back on the handle of the hunting knife on my back.

"No… no, that… that isn't even… possible," I said under my breath. The Zoroark broke eye contact and looked back down at the ground.

'_Not only do you look like him, you even have his personality,' _Zoroark told me. I backed away even further, shaking my head in denial.

"No, I haven't even seen him before. How can I trust what you're saying? How can I know that he's really my father?" I asked her. The Zoroark walked back up to me, and tried to calm me by placing her clawed paw to my shoulder. I slapped her hand off and backed away.

"Don't touch me!" I snapped, looking at her with frightened eyes. Zoroark sighed.

'_Look Mason, even if you don't believe me now, at some point, you'll have to face the truth,' _Zoroark said to me. '_You're the world's first living bridge between two completely different worlds, a hybrid.' _She tried to put her paw on my shoulder again, but I panicked and swatted it aside. I tackled Zoroark to the ground, landing roughly with a loud thump. I held her by the fur on her collarbone with one hand and pulled the hunting knife out of its sheath with the other, then held it to her throat.

"I'm not a hybrid, a-and my father isn't a Gallade, I know it!" I shouted. "Even if I was, why would I want to be one!? It's just a defect, a curse!"

'_Mason, you need to open your eyes. It's not a curse, it's a gift,' _she replied in a calm voice. Panicked and hysterical, I pushed the blade until I saw blood.

"Why!? Why would it be!? I'm just a freak!" I screamed in her face. I continued to hold the knife to her throat, waiting for an answer. Zoroark didn't show fear, she didn't speak, so I pushed harder.

"TELL ME! WHY!?" I howled. Zoroark looked up at me, stoic and controlled. I looked at her, angry and confused, and opened my mouth to yell again, but then I noticed something in her eyes. Not just tears, but something else as well.

Fear, truth, hope… familiarity.

I froze. Her eyes, they weren't dark, they weren't red. They were green… bright green... with small slivers of yellow running in the irises... shining a poisonous color... just… just like mine.

I lifted the knife off of Zoroark's neck, very slowly, and looked at the familiar eyes in front of me.

"No… that… that's impossible… how?" I whispered. The Zoroark looked back up at me with teary eyes, and hugged me. I dropped the hunting knife in shock and fell back with Zoroark's arms around my chest, crying into it.

"Wh… What?" I said in a flummoxed voice. Zoroark lifted her head and placed it next to mine. I could feel tears running down my shoulder as Zoroark cried happily.

'_I missed you, brother.'_


	4. IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

Hey guys. I've been thinking, and I believe that I should delete this story.

I can't focus on both this and Five Strange Nights, and I'm afraid that even if I did do this story, it wouldn't be worth it to you guys.

So I need you guys to tell me if it's a good idea or not.

**Should I delete this story? **

**Put "Yes" or "No" in the review section, and I'll tally up the votes after a week.**


	5. Conflicting Heroines

**After careful consideration, I have decided to continue this story. I can only hope that its popularity will rise though. **

**Now please excuse me if this chapter is somewhat short, I'm running on fumes right now and I couldn't think of a better stopping point at the moment. Hopefully this can be enough for a short time while I write the next chapter.**

* * *

I stood there, completely shocked, and completely lost. Zoroark had her arms wrapped around me, a little blood seeping from the cut in her neck.

"B-b-brother?" I stuttered. It was impossible; I was an only child. I've never heard of any other siblings, just cousins and distant relatives. To have a sister, let alone one that wasn't even the same species as me, was absolutely preposterous!

I put my hands on Zoroark's shoulders and pushed her away for a second. "J-just a second! What do you mean 'brother?'"

Zoroark looked down and twiddled her thumbs. "Well, I guess it's more like 'half- brother…'" she mumbled. "The Gallade I showed you is my-" Zoroark held the front of her neck in pain. "Ow!"

My eyes widened. "Are you okay?" Cursing to myself, I held my hand out to Zoroark and pulled her up. "Come on."

**_oOo_**

**Back at the Cabin**

I opened the door and took Zoroark into the living room. "Here, sit down. I'll go grab some things," I said as Zoroark sat down on the couch next to Nida. Both of the pokemon exchanged confused looks.

"Mason, who's this?"

"_Mason, who's this?"_

"I'll explain later," I said, grabbing a hand towel, soap, antibiotic ointment, dressings, and bandages. Before heading back over to Zoroark, I also filled the sink with soapy water and left it running for a little. Placing everything on the table, I grabbed the towel and tossed it to Zoroark. "Here, keep pressure on the cut with this." Zoroark caught the towel and held it against the cut. Still very upset with myself, I took the materials and walked over to the couch.

"_What exactly happened?"_

"It's complicated," I dismissed, dumping the stuff on the table and sitting on the floor. "Before we do anything to the wound, it needs to stop bleeding. Hold the towel there until it dries."

Zoroark's eyes began to get a little teary. "But it hurts!" she whimpered.

I shook my head. "I know, but don't worry, it didn't hit any major arteries, just broke the skin. Just keep that towel on it." The injured pokemon nodded and closed her eyes.

10 minutes later, the bleeding stopped and she was able to take the towel off. I immediately got to work and soaked another towel in the soapy water, heading back over to Zoroark and cleaning out the wound. She whimpered and yelped a little, but it was relatively quick and I was able to clean the cut. I put a little antibiotic ointment on it and grabbed the bandage.

"Hold still for a second." Zoroark did as I said and stopped squirming. Supporting my elbow on my knee, I placed the bandage over the cut and wrapped it in gauze.

I still felt stupid. I'm told that I have a half sister I never knew about and what's the first thing I do? Hug her? Say "nice to meet you"? Nope, I hold a fuckin' knife to her throat. Wonderful.

After securing the bandages, I checked my work and made sure everything was good. The entire time I did, Zoroark held still patiently, even though she was in pain. I was impressed.

"Okay, it'll hurt for a little bit, but the pain will die down." Zoroark slowly nodded her head, her eyes still a little teary. Aaand now I feel rueful again. To help with the pain, I went to the kitchen, and grabbed a painkiller as well as a water bottle.

"Here," I said, handing her the pill and the water. "This'll help." Zoroark took the pill and drank most of the water, setting it down with a pained moan.

With Zoroark's wound taken care of, the tension in the room seemed to relieve… for a short second. Nadi and Zoroark almost immediately began looking each other up and down, like they were assessing each other. It felt weird and unnatural... and partially hostile.

Zoroark looked up at me, a painfully fake smile on her face. "Mason, who's this?"

"_I can ask the same thing," _Nadi retorted… Yep, this was definitely tensing back up. Both of them were sitting on the couch, keeping a "comfortable" distance between each other, and their words nipped at my skin even though they weren't technically directed at me.

I sighed, pointing to Nadi. "Last week, Nadi here got attacked by a pack of Mightyenas. She died and I had to resuscitate her." I made the explanation short and turned towards the Zoroark. "Now you go ahead and introduce yourself."

"Why can't you introduce me like you did her?" she complained.

"Because," I groaned. "You haven't even told me your name."

"... oh…"

A subtle smile painted itself on Nadi's mouth as the Zoroark sighed in comical idiocy. "I'm such an idiot. My name is Iris," she stared Nadi directly in the eye. "And I'm Mason's sister."

My chest dropped a little. "We don't know that yet." This earned me a bit of a hurt look from my supposed sister Iris.

Nadi raised an eyebrow, obviously surprised. I could pretty much see the gears turning in her head, and I understood why. Imagine: two different species, related by siblingship… It makes nearly no sense. "_Uh… Are you serious?" _she questioned, doubt apparent in her tone.

"Dead serious." Iris nodded without missing a beat and stood up to stand by me. "Mason is my blood-related sibling."

Nadi shook her head. "_That's impossible. To be siblings, you'd have to be the same species. There'd be no way you could get two different species from the same set of parents."_

Oh yeah, Iris forgot one important detail… "Supposedly, we share the same dad."

"_... I guess that's more believable, but it's still crazy."_

I folded my arms and frowned a little. "Of course it's crazy. What sane, mortal person would take on an entire pack of Mightyena's to save an already dying Gardevoir that was poisoned and scratched within an inch of her life?"

"_... You've made your point." _

I sighed, looking at Iris and Nadi. "Look, it's been a long week for me, so I'm gonna go sleep. Leave, stay, do whatever. I don't really care right now. Wake me up if the house starts burning down."

Iris looked at Nadi, then at the couch. "But Mason, what if we need to sleep? There's only one couch."

Dammit.

"... Fine, the bed is big enough for you two to sleep without touching shoulders. I'll take the couch."

"_You can have the bed, Mason. What if one of us just slept with-"_

"Don't even think about it."


End file.
